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Mountain Pass, California

26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Newberry Springs-Baker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92364. It lies near Mohawk Hill. The Survey maps it on the Mescal Range quadrangle. It stands 4,728 feet above sea level.

Mountain Pass within San Bernardino County

Then and now

1910 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Mountain Pass, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Mountain Pass, surveyed 1910

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 26 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

113 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 113 fires within 5 miles of Mountain Pass between 1992 and 2020, burning about 700 acres in total. 19 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Equipment and vehicle use62
Missing data/not specified/undetermined30
Natural19
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2017Naturalunder an acreMojave National PreserveCOOP
5 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMojave National PreserveOLSEN
4 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined32 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictCIMA
3 September 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictMOHAWK
26 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictCIMA
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictMOHAWK
15 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMojave National PreserveBDC ASSIST
14 September 1993Equipment and vehicle use30 acresMojave National PreserveMOHAWK2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Bernardino County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 150 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 150 workings within 5 miles of Mountain Pass: 89 prospects, 47 past producers, 9 producers, 5 occurrences. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Barium-Barite, Zinc, REE, Lead. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
AgnesSilver, Zinc, Lead, GoldProspect
AltaZinc, Silver, Tungsten, Copper, LeadPast Producer
Bernardine Hills No. 3Barium-Barite, Fluorine-FluoriteProspect
Blue Buzzard LodeLead, Copper, SilverPast Producer
C-MarieGold, Tin, ZincProspect
Carbonate King Zinc MineZinc, Lead, Silver, Gold, IronPast ProducerVein
Clark Mtn. StationLead, Copper, Silver, Zinc, GoldPast Producer
Copper World Quartz No. 1Copper, Antimony, Barium-Barite, Silver, ZincProspect
Copper World Quartz No. 2Copper, Barium-Barite, ZincProspect
Dobbs GroupLead, Zinc, CopperProspect

Every working recorded in San Bernardino County

Storms near this place

5 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mountain Pass in 5 storm reports between 2009 and 2022: 4 flash flood, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2020HailMountain Pass$250,000Hail up to golf ball size accumulated several inches deep on Interstate 15 at Mountain Pass. Vehicle damage was reported, including broken windshields.
August 2022Flash FloodMountain Pass$2,000Interstate 15 was closed due to flooding between Bailey Road and Nipton Road. The highway, onramps, and offramps were also flooded at Yates Well Road.
August 2012Flash FloodMountain Pass$2,000Rocks and debris were washed across the Bailey Road off ramp from I-15 North.
July 2022Flash FloodMountain Pass$1,000I-15 was flooded at Bailey Rd.
September 2009Flash FloodMountain Pass-Heavy rain washed debris onto I-15 between Bailey Rd. and Nipton Rd. The Highway Patrol had to escort vehicles through.

Every storm recorded in San Bernardino County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Wheaton Springs3.7 miles26
Valley Wells Station8.7 miles27
Calada11.9 miles27
Yucca Grove13.9 miles28
Nipton14.5 miles27
Joshua14.6 miles27
Ivanpah15.3 miles27
Brant15.4 miles27

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Mountain PassAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1950856The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 255648. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.